The main part of the film covers the actual story of the album. The song clips shown have all been released before, either as a video when the actual song was released, or on the "In the Round In Your Face" concert video released back in 1989. What add to these now is the comments made by the band members and management about these songs. However the best bit about these sort of documentaries is the unreleased clips of famous songs. Both Animal and Love Bites are played in previous demo formats, with quite a difference noticeable! This is similar to the Iron Maiden "Number of the Beast" Classic Albums DVD where different tracks are shown of each song in the recording studio. For true fans this type of thing really is priceless.

After the main part on the DVD comes the bonus section, including extra interviews and guitarist Phil Collen demonstrating how parts of songs are played. Again, this sort of information really will appeal to those like myself who have been into Leppard for a long time. You can also hear answers to some of the myths about the songs, such as what really is being said at the end of Love Bites...

What the DVD also manages to achieve is to place events that happened around the time of the album, such as drummer Rick Allen losing an arm in a car accident and the tragic death of guitarist Steve Clark four years after the album's release into context along with the musical side of the story. Both events are handled sensitively and correctly.

If you enjoyed Hysteria when the album was released in the eighties, or are a big Def Leppard fan, then this DVD comes highly recommended.


Hysteria every inch a classic,here is how they did it.   May 31, 2002
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Def leppards best ever album,packed with fantastic songs,Animal,Rocket and their anthem for the eighties Pour some sugar on me.This behind the scenes view of the painstaking quest for studio perfection is compulsive viewing.To witness how much thought and hard work went into every track,explained in detail by the band themselves is great to watch.The bonus material,including acoustic versions by Joe Elliot and Phil Collen are testament to their musical abilities.
A must for Def Leppard fans and so much more interesting than a standard video hits compilation